Here’s you some bullet points that might be hard to swallow. Some things you need to know about succeeding in Project Management (PM):
* For Project Managers PMP is a pre-requisite today. You won’t even be considered for a position without it. However, having a PMP is no longer rare and doesn’t help you stand out from the crowd.
* Reports are coming in that CSM is being requested more and more (salaries are increasing and rivaling traditional PMs too) .
* Scrum is becoming mainstream in tier 1 markets. However in tier 2 markets it has just come out of the chasm (Geoffrey Moore analogy). I believe that Scrum utilization is going to increase (in 2010 keep an eye on Scrum.org and how Ken S. may challenge the Scrum Alliance)
* Lean is hot and will continue to grow; obscure Agile frameworks (Crystal, DSDM, etc) are fading into obscurity
* There appears to be a major shift in what types of projects are being worked on in 2010. There are fewer “re-invent the world” projects being started from scratch. There is an increase in the number of customization/integration projects with COTS. Also, smaller scale app dev is skyrocketing (look at the number of apps in the iTunes store)
* Experience is definitely valued right now, especially in deep verticals (healthcare, etc…). I wouldn’t want to be a new grad right now
* PMI is going to be pushing the CAPM exam for recent grads (because it focuses on book knowledge, not experience) – heard this from the PMI COO
